Softball Game Preview: NorthWood Panthers vs. Concord Minutemen

NorthWood is preparing for their first conference matchup of the season on Monday. They will welcome the Concord Minutemen at 5:30 p.m. Neither of those teams managed to put together many runs in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.

The scorekeeper got an easy start on Saturday as neither NorthWood nor Elkhart made it on the board until the seventh inning. The Panthers had just enough and edged out the Lions 2-1. Those two runs were actually the fewest the Panthers have put up all season, but given the result they're probably not too concerned.

Chloe Davis

Base on Balls Against

04/19/25 vs Elkhart	0
04/01/25 vs Fairfield	1
03/28/25 @ Jimtown	1

Chloe Davis spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on three hits. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances.

At the plate, NorthWood's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Ana Beachy, who went 1-for-2 with one double. That double marked the first that Beachy has hit this season.

Edwardsburg hit Concord with a eight-run sixth inning on Thursday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Minutemen lost 14-1 to the Eddies. The Minutemen have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

The win (which was NorthWood's third in a row) raised their record to 4-2. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Concord, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-2.

Concord's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: NorthWood hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .329. It's a different story for Concord, though, as they've only averaged .234. Will they be able to contain NorthWood's hitters?

Everything went NorthWood's way against Concord in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, as NorthWood made off with a 14-6 win. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Minutemen have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.